


Okami Rose

by Nahte123456



Category: RWBY, 大神 | Okami (Video Games)
Genre: Friend Issun, Gen, Kids trying to save the world, Magic, Okami rules, Okami world, Ruby in Amaterasu's place
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2020-09-24 16:55:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20361907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nahte123456/pseuds/Nahte123456
Summary: Amaterasu is still weakened from her last war with the Dark, so instead of heeding Sakuya’s call she sends one of her bloodline in her place, a girl from another world, named Ruby Rose.





	1. New Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> I adore Okami(and Okamiden), I like RWBY, so here’s Okami and RWBY put together. This will not be “Okami but with Ruby” there will be differences as Ruby is a different character then Ammy, that being said it is Okami’s baseline story so expect to follow a lot of that.  
Depending on if/when I finish this story, and if I want to continue I may make a sequel with Yang in Chibiterasu’s place, then a third where the allies and powers from Nippon go to Remnant instead so it’d be the Huntsmen with Ruby, Yang, and there allies vs the Demons on Remnant. But that’s WAY into the future if it ever does happen so don’t dwell on it to much.  
And quite a bit of exposition at first, but this is the start of a crossover, a video-game crossover at that. Ruby wants to know everything she can, how things work and where she is.  
Beta’d by Wild Blue Sonder. Thank you Sonder.

Ruby Rose fell asleep quickly after a long day of school work. She had been the leader of Team RWBY for a little less than a month, finally getting along with Weiss, getting to know Blake, and still having fun with Yang. What felt like a warm breeze blowing over her became far too crisp to be a dream, which was when she realized that both her blanket and her pajamas were just plain gone. “Ah!” she yelped, crouching to cover herself only to realize she was clearly not in her room, or Beacon, or Vale for that matter. She seemed to be floating in the clouds, mountain peaks visible around her. Everything was awash with a golden glow, like the water vapor had turned to liquid gold and light reflected off it.

“Hello, my Gem,” came a calm, beautiful, feminine voice from behind her. Ruby whirled around, expecting to see a woman, but instead there was some kind of dog.

The dog sat calmly, their eyes level from her crouching position. It looked like a wolf at first glance, but she neither knew of any wolves with swirling red tattoos on their fur nor spiraling hairs that resembled clouds at the shoulders and tail. “Um, hi?” Ruby greeted tentatively, not sure what else to say or do. The canine tilted its head as if studying her, or perhaps mocking her inquiring tone. It was hard to tell on a dog.

“Hello,” came the voice again, clearly from the dog despite it not moving in any way to indicate it had spoken. Ruby watched it for a minute to see if it’d say anything else, but instead it seemed to grow bored of her quickly and laid down, yawning before resting its head on its paws. She had a clear view of its tail, the tip of which seemed oddly pointed and dyed black as if dipped in ink.

She finally broke the silence once it became clear the dog wouldn’t. “Alright Doggy, my name is Ruby Rose, what’s your name?”

“My name is Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun, origin of all that is good and mother to all,” the voice answered, the dog’s ears perking up. Ruby blinked, unsure what to make of that introduction before the voice continued. “And I’m a wolf, not a dog. A unique wolf perhaps, but a wolf nonetheless.”

** Goddess of the Sun Amaterasu **

“You’re the Goddess of the Sun? Like an actual God?” Ruby asked. This talking wolf wasn’t insane, right? She wasn’t insane either, right?

The voice gave a smooth chuckle at her confusion as the physical wolf seemed to smile, panting slightly. “Yes my Gem, I am the Goddess of the Sun, a physical manifestation of the Sun’s power. Now pay attention, I don’t like long stories so I’ll keep this brief and won’t repeat myself. Once your world of Remnant and my world of Nippon were twin realms with a great deal of crossover and interaction. I even had a few families of my own back when I had a human form rather then this much more comfortable wolf body. However, the two beings calling themselves Gods in your world, the Brothers of Light and Dark, were attacked and decided to reset humanity without the magic they then possessed. This was when both Dust and Faunus came into being, and when the Gods of Nippon, like I, began to lose track of Remnant, unable to freely pass between the worlds anymore, although we still watched when we could. Are you following so far?” the voice inquired, the last question sharp, but between Ruby’s enraptured expression and the way the wolf’s eyes had started to close the query seemed to be more for the Goddess than her.

“Yes, but I’ve never heard of this type of stuff even in old stories. So were the Brothers evil or something to reset humanity?” Ruby asked, not sure why else two gods would do something so horrible.

The voice sighed before continuing her story “No. Arrogant and rigid yes, but not truly evil, neither of them. But that is another story entirely. Now our worlds are more out of sync now and travel is harder, but they are still connected, and in my time of need I have called upon you for help. I have had many great fights in the past, and have used much of my energy to help the land and its people. My world is under threat and I’m unable to form a physical body to fight back. Calling on you, while still taxing, is much easier by comparison. And to answer your question as to why you… The Brothers did reset humanity, but they didn’t kill everyone, and my descendants are a particularly hardy bunch.”

Amaterasu gave her a moment to digest that, and to shake herself like a dog coming out of the rain. Ruby wasn’t entirely sure how to respond, this new information being so outside her sphere of knowledge that she just didn’t know how to deal with it. “So my Mom was one of your descendants?” she asked, figuring if it was her Dad then both him and Yang would have been summoned before her.

Apparently her logic was wrong. “No she wasn’t, although I understand your reasoning. Your father is the descendant of one of my more handsome sons. Your mother did have some form of celestial power in her as well, although from whom I do not know. But said power took the already-present power from me in your blood and amplified it to admirable levels. If most humans were to try and call upon my true power, they would simply ignite and turn to ash within seconds. And while you can’t call my full powers now, as I am still too weak and you are not adjusted, it will be possible for you to do so one day. But baby steps as your people say. And while your father and sister could handle a great deal of my power, your sister more than your father as her growing body would adjust better, neither could handle even half of what you can.”

Ruby thought about it for a moment, but despite her confusion and the fact that the story was clearly missing large chunks, she understood the core of everything. Amaterasu was her many-times great Grandmother, her world was in danger, and since she couldn’t do the work herself she’d called upon her Granddaughter. “I mean, I’d like to help but I have a life you know? I can’t leave Yang or Dad for weeks if not months, even for this. Not to mention I have no idea how your world works or how I could help.”

Amaterasu came up to her and rested her head on Ruby’s leg, answer coming swift and certain. “Have some faith my Gem. Weakened I may be, but I am not a Goddess for nothing. As for the time issue I already told you our worlds are out of sync, so to make time pass much quicker in this world than yours is child’s play. If you were to stay for years, far longer than you need, not even half the night would pass on Remnant. While that would still separate you from your friends and family for a long time, they would not worry about you as you’d already be back by the time they realized something was wrong, and I have confidence that you’ll return just fine, my Gem.

As for how the world works and all involved, while there are some difficulties, I have already arranged for a guild of sorts and we will be in frequent contact as I can make my voice heard to you whenever you need it. I will provide you with clothing and some basic things you need, and when you awaken in my world you’ll see what looks like a mirror fly towards you. Catch it and it will transform into a weapon more fitting for you. The largest issue will be language, as you cannot speak their language nor the reverse, but you can speak the language of the Gods with my blessing. Spirits and those in tune with the spirits will understand you perfectly, including your guild, giving you time to learn the language as he translates.”

Ruby took a second before nodding. There wasn’t much more to say then; Amaterasu had apparently figured all of this out, her major objections already pacified, and even if she did object she wasn’t sure she had much of a choice in the matter. Rather than start a fight she didn’t know if she even wanted to win, or if it were possible to win, she’d just agree for now. “OK Amaterasu, I guess I’ll do my best then.”

Amaterasu’s wolf form barked in happiness and moved away. “Two more quick things my Gem, so I don’t forget. You may call me Ammy, Grandmother, or the like. Amaterasu is such a mouth full. And use the tip of your finger or weapon as a brush with your celestial powers.”

With that heart-warming degree of familiarity and baffling advice Amaterasu lifted her head and howled a glowing orb with some sort of black symbol on it coming out of her, warm wind hitting Ruby head-on and causing her to let out a small “eep” that was drowned out by the gust as the orb flew into her. It got more and more violent until Ruby had to close her eyes as it carried her into the sky.

"Amaterasu, now is the time. We have never needed your power more. Shine your divine light upon this broken and polluted world. Let your heavenly rays become our hope as you guide us all!"

* * *

_CREAK! CRUNCH! CRACK!_

That voice was too feminine to be Amaterasu’s. The wind had simply disappeared without warning, and now Ruby was in the dark with what sounded like crunching rocks all around her. Before she could really contemplate what was happening, or panic at being so enclosed, with one more massive _CRACK!_ the rocks exploded outward. An eerie red light assaulted her eyes, blinding her for a moment.

It was actually pretty dim wherever she was, the sky looking like it was colored with blood as a fierce windstorm blew overhead so that wasn’t comforting. There was something circling around her. It resembled a metal circle with flames inside of it, the mirror Ammy had told her about she figured. Ruby reached into the mirror’s path and it flew to her hand. Immediately the entire thing glowed and started to deform as if it were melting, but it wasn’t hot and she wanted to trust Amaterasu so she held on.

The molten metal didn’t drip, instead it began to squirm, slowly straightening until she held a thin pole that had to be at least eight feet long. It stilled for a moment before the top three feet bent like a hinge, forming an upside down L shape. Once more it momentarily stilled before the ends began to spin, twisting until the entire bent pole looked like a corkscrew. It then twisted until the edges of the screw were pressing together, making the pole thicker and smaller but leaving the bottom part with a noticeable point. Finally the L-shape deformed like the inner edge had been struck by a giant hammer, then it straightened out into a blade. At last the glowing color faded.

Ruby simply watched the entire time, fascinated by the feeling of metal changing in her hands. Once it was done she carefully inspected the result. It was a scythe, more akin to her Uncle Qrow’s than her own bulky scythe-rifle, which made sense as this was mostly a plain scythe without any transforming or shooting features. The shaft was just a solid bar of what looked like primitive steel, about three and a quarter feet long, the only distinction a noticeable lip about halfway down. The bottom of the shaft had a point with some marking she couldn’t understand, good for stabbing she supposed; Crescent Rose had a similar point for that very reason. The blade was a foot and a half long, simple but clearly very sharp. The one oddity about the entire construct was that the neck, where the blade met the shaft, seemed to emit some sort of translucent, heatless fire.

“Mother Amaterasu...?” came an uncertain voice from above her. Ruby glanced up and saw a beautiful woman floating in the air. She wore a pink dress with a large red ribbon tied around her waist, and for reasons Ruby couldn’t even begin to guess there was a big gap in the chest of the dress to let her breasts hang out, revealing a green bra. She had some questions about this woman’s fashion decisions but didn’t want to be insulting.

“Not exactly, I’m Ruby. Amaterasu is my many-times great-grandmother. She said she can’t make a body or something, so she sent me to help. Um... I don’t suppose you’re the guide she told me about?” Ruby glanced around during her reply. That was twice in a few minutes she hadn’t been aware of someone until they spoke. Sure, one was a God and this woman clearly wasn’t normal, but that type of unawareness was something she wanted to avoid as a prospective Huntress.

What she saw was not encouraging. The blood-red sky reminded her of the horror movies Yang liked, dark clouds swiftly traveling along. She stood on a small hilltop with some rocks surrounding a massive tree, which would have been magnificent if it weren’t completely dead and ready to fall over, wind blowing across the wilted grass. The final thing she noted was an archway along the road down the hill, and inside the archway was a white light that shone nowhere else.

The questionably-dressed woman appeared confused as she floated down, nothing hostile about the action. Before their conversation could proceed her clothes seemed to shift and the woman looked down in surprise. She muttered “what is th-a-a-a-t?” before erupting into giggles and laughter, tickled by whatever was in her dress. After a moment something small flew right out of her dress into the air. On instinct Ruby attempted to catch the falling thing with the hand not holding her new scythe, but when her fingers started to close around the object it crawled onto the back of her hand, revealing itself to be a small creature.

At first she thought it was some form of small, green beetle, but after a moment she realized the beetle only stood on two feet. She raised her hand to eye level, outstretched to keep the thing away from her face, and heard a “whoa!” from the creature. It looked like a person with a beetle’s carapace on its head like a hat, if a person were two inches tall. The shadow caused by the beetle-hat prevented her from getting a better view of its features but she was now fairly certain it was a tiny person.

“Hey Red! You mind? No need to swing me around like that unless you want to feel Denkomaru’s sting!” The little creature spoke in a boyish tone, suddenly brandishing what looked like a thick sewing needle. Oddly, despite the small size of the thing and the wind blowing around them, its voice was clearly audible.

“I’m sorry? I didn’t realize you were... sentient?” Ruby’s apology came out more like a question, but she had no idea what to make of a mini-person on her hand, as if the Goddess Wolf weren’t strange enough.

“Ah, never met a Poncle before huh? Just think of me as a smaller person. Name’s Issun by the way, I’m an artist.”

** Wandering Artist Issun **

Ruby blinked. “Hi Issun, I’m Ruby Rose. Just call me Ruby.”

The woman disrupted their conversation. “I’m sorry to interrupt but after protecting the village and trying to summon Amaterasu my power is draining quickly. Ruby, I am Sakuya, spirit of the tree behind you, guardian of Kamiki.”

** Wood Sprite Sakuya **

The woman spoke rapidly, her voice getting more tired as she went. “I have protected the villagers by putting their souls into my fruit before they could be tormented. Using the power of Amaterasu you must make the fruit fall to restore them. I wish you luck, Ruby Rose. May Amaterasu’s light shine through you.” With that Sakuya drifted upward and faded into nothingness.

Ruby looked at the now empty space before asking Issun, “Did she just… die?” That was not how she wanted her adventure to start.

“I don’t think so, more like she just doesn’t have enough energy so she went to sleep,” Issun reassured. “As long as her tree stands, no matter how bad of shape, she’s still around. Not sure how she’ll be healed though, or why she thinks you can help.”

Ruby considered that before deciding to explain herself. This Poncle was a stranger, but she knew nothing about her surroundings so some information was still better than none. “She was trying to summon Amaterasu but I was summoned instead. I’m Amaterasu’s descendant from a long time ago from far away.”

Issun turned to her, tickling her hand. “Descendant of a God? Never heard that one before.” She winced and mentally conceded it wasn’t the most likely explanation. “Hey I don’t mean anything bad by it, Ruby! I mean I’m not sure I believe it, but here you are speaking with Sakuya and with a Divine Instrument in hand, you aren’t an ordinary girl. If you want to say you’re Amaterasu’s descendant then who am I to argue?”

That was comforting, albeit she felt he was humoring her. “Divine Instrument? I can barely hum a tune much less use an instrument.”

He gave a small chuckle. “Not surprised you don’t know this one, but wrong kind of Instrument. A Divine Instrument is an item with a lot of Celestial Power. To most people it’ll either look like an old battered object or they won’t see it at all, and if you try to hit a normal person it’d be about as effective as a stick you find on the ground. However! If you hit bad people or demons it’ll be super effective!”

That might explain the fire coming out of the neck. Ruby spun the scythe in her hand so it was sideways, running a more critical eye over it. Besides the fire it looked like normal, if not particularly reflective, metal. The only odd thing besides the fire were the markings at the bottom she couldn’t make out. “Issun, can you read whatever this says?” she asked, spinning the scythe into a better position.

Issun turned around and read. “Let’s see. Hmm, no big mystery here, says ‘Divine Retribution’. Must be the thing’s name.”

Divine Retribution? Seemed like a big name for such a plain scythe, but she hadn’t fought with it yet. Speaking of fighting... “You said this works on demons? Like monsters?” Amaterasu had said her world was in trouble, but hadn’t specified how. Maybe demons were responsible.

Issun didn’t respond for a second. She got the impression he was making a gesture, maybe scratching an itch or something, but she couldn’t see it under the shadow his hat caused. “Well that’s more complicated, like a lot. But basically think of demons, or yokai depending on who you talk to, like bad feelings personified. A lot of people feel sad and imps pop up nearby. A woman gets scarred and cries into a mirror for her former beauty and the mirror comes to life to attack pretty people. A samurai is betrayed and his feelings of resentment make his empty armor move again. Like Divine Instruments they can’t be seen by normal people. They’ll either see nothing or something innocent like small animals or a random kid playing around.”

So these demons weren’t like the Grimm then, evil yes but not uniformly evil in the same way. Ruby was overrun with questions. “So are demons smart? Are they pure evil or can they be sad? What about fighting them, do they just die like animals or do you need to do something specific? Do I need a separate weapon on me to fight people if this scythe is only for demons?”

Issun hopped back a little at the sudden inquisition. “Wow girl! Calm down a bit. Like I said demons are complicated. Their intelligence varies, they’re all bad in some way but that ranges from basic mischief to pitch black darkness. As for fighting them, there’s no uniform way to, but they aren’t alive like you or me, more like puppets fueled by those negative feelings. Either destroy those feelings or make it so the container can’t contain those feelings and you’ll destroy them, but generally just cutting them up does that fine. As for another weapon, generally people with Divine Instruments try to not fight beings the Instruments don’t work on, but if push comes to shove it should work out. Like I said the thing is still there, not sharp but you’ll have it on hand.”

Ruby’s head was swimming with possibilities. Luckily she absentmindedly looked up while thinking, and seeing nothing but red reminded her she should get moving. They were far too exposed to sit and talk. “Thanks Issun, but we should probably get moving. Did you need something up here?”

“Nah, I just hitched a ride on Sakuya to see what the hubbub was about. Loud roars were heard, then the sky turned red. But how about a deal? You say you don’t know anything, and running around can be a big chore at my size. So you let me hitch a ride, and I’ll explain things as they come, what do you say?” He started hopping up her arm, onto her sleeve.

That was when Ruby noticed her clothes. The sky, Sakuya, and Issun had distracted her, but she paused to give herself a good look. She wore some kind of robe that was too big for her with a part down the middle, a big sash tying the garment closed. The fabric was black and trimmed with red roses and green vines. The sash was several inches thick and formed a large bow on the small of her back, but there was a circular gap in it for some reason. The material felt like good quality. “What is this outfit?” she wondered aloud.

Issun kept hopping until he stood on her shoulder to reply. “What? You mean your kimono?”

“Key-Moan-Oh?” Ruby tried pronouncing the foreign word. She’d never heard of such a thing before but since Issun seemed to think nothing of it, it must be pretty common garb in this world.

“Yeah, a kimono. Your sleeves are a little shorter than normal, and there’s a big bow on the back, but nothing really odd for a wealthy girl.” Issun sounded confused by her confusion.

Ruby eyed the sleeves critically. They were already baggier than her normal sleeves so she hoped they wouldn’t get in the way while fighting. She studied the bow again. If it was large even by this world’s standards then why did Ammy include it in her outfit? That odd hole in the fabric gave her an idea. She positioned the base of her scythe over it and dropped it, the small lip on the shaft catching and holding it in place. Experimentally she grabbed the scythe and pulled it out, let it drop back in, pulled it only partly out, let go, then drew the entire thing as fast as she could. It held the scythe extremely well and didn’t make a noise. It was also quite comfy to carry, the point coming to her mid-thighs and the curved blade just above her shoulders. She’d just have to be mindful of it whenever she tried to sit down. To complete the outfit she had on simple, if snug, sandals.

Issun had just sat on Ruby’s shoulder while she played with the bow-holster, but once she left the scythe alone and straightened he piped up again. “You’re a weird girl acting like you don’t know your own clothes. Anyways I’m just gonna get comfortable… ACK!”

Remembering how he had ‘hitched a ride’ in Sakuya’s dress, Ruby grabbed him before he could move and spoke calmly. “That’s right, comfortable and NOT in my kee-mono. Why don’t you try the bow? It’s large enough for you to relax in, and it’ll let me move around without worrying about you.” She dropped him among the fabric folds.

Issun offered no complaint, perhaps sensing the threat in her tone, and jumped around in the bow for a bit before settling down. “Yeah that’ll work fine. Nice view, too.”

Ruby ignored that last part and looked at him, a concern growing in her mind. “You should take off your hat, put it in the bow with you or something. I don’t want people to see it and think I’m infested or anything.” He grumbled but removed the hat. She could barely glimpse his small head he was so well hidden. “OK, we’re off!” Ruby exclaimed with a fist to the sky, taking the first steps on her new adventure. She started walking down the road only to arrive at the glowing archway she had noted earlier, wondering if she should avoid it. “Do you see this glowing arch? Am I supposed to avoid it or go through it?” she inquired of Issun.

He waited a beat before replying. “I don’t see a glow, but if you see one this may be a doorway to a secret place. Kamiki is real special with Sakuya here and everything. Shouldn’t hurt to go in and look around, we may get some hints on how to help Sakuya and get a better explanation about what’s going on.”

Ruby tilted her head in thought before shrugging. Might as well. She strode through the arch and with a flash of white light she and Issun found themselves in another place entirely.

* * *

Once her sight returned Ruby glanced around to make sure she wasn’t surprised again. Her new surroundings were better than the bloody sky of the hill she’d just been on, but no less fantastical.

She stood atop some sort of mountain, a small island of mostly flat land with a sudden dropoff surrounded by the night sky. It was truly beautiful, each star clear and shining so bright it may have well have been daylight, the air pleasantly cool. Behind her was an arch that perfectly mirrored the one she came through, except there was nothing but empty space. Ruby crept toward the edge of the cliff and peered down, finding a layer of clouds preventing her from seeing farther below.

“Whoa,” came Issun’s voice from her side. He was small and hard to see but she got the impression he was looking around in wonder just like she was.

“Any idea where we are? Because last I checked we weren’t on a mountain.”

Issun thought for a minute. “I’m not sure, but I have a few ideas. I’ll know more after we look around.”

Ruby acknowledged that logic and started forward, keeping a sharp eye on the environment. After several minutes they came across a bridge with an odd mirror beside it. The mirror was nearly as tall as she, reflecting a bright light onto a circle of stone in front of it. “Issun, what’s with that mirror? There’s not enough light for it to be reflecting so much.”

“Oh, that’s an Origin Mirror. Stand in front of one and if you have the right power you’ll be healed and rejuvenated, plus it’ll record your recent memories that only you can see again, like a diary. I’ve heard of a few other uses for them like travel but that might just be myth.”

Ruby tilted her head in curiosity at another magical item before walking to the circle and trying to look into the mirror. All she felt was a warming sensation, but as she was in perfect health she decided to try again later. She turned and started across the bridge. Not a fan of silence when there was so much to learn, Ruby presented Issun with yet another question. “You keep mentioning things like having the ‘right power’ or ‘normal people’. What exactly do you mean by that? Clearly you don’t count either of us or Sakuya as normal.”

Issun spluttered out a laugh before answering. “Sakuya isn’t even close to normal! What I mean by ‘normal’ comes down to celestial power, a combination of will and faith that most people just don’t have enough of. But those that do are almost always special in one way or another. They can see demons and the divine, get help from the gods. They’ll be really lucky for good or ill, they’re naturally talented, and even use special abilities. It’s honestly a bit of a bother, seeing what no one else can and always being drawn to complicated situations. But sticking with you means I get to practice my art and even learn some Brush Techniques, so I shouldn’t complain too much.”

Ruby was struck by his sincerity. She hadn’t been ready for things to get as personal as Issun’s tone indicated. “You said you were an artist before, how good are you? Me, my sister, and our father are all pretty good but never got any lessons or anything to be great.” As she spoke she reached the end of the bridge, but as there was still nothing to see she kept walking straight.

Issun bounced in excitement on the bow. “Behold my talent! Even cuter than the original Sakuya!” He produced a scroll from thin air and threw it at her. Ruby deftly caught it before it hit her head.

The picture contained within the scroll was… interesting. Not bad, but the style was completely foreign to her. The woman in the drawing was more elongated, especially her neck, and the face was oddly detailed, more than she’d draw but less than realistic. It was clearly well done, with smooth lines and purposeful curves indicating everything was deliberate even if it was odd to her. “It’s very nice, Issun. I’ve never really seen this style before so I can’t say much more than that.” She rolled the scroll back up and returned it to him; he seemed a little put out since he wasn’t hopping around as much. Once again the scroll disappear into the ether. “Where exactly are you keeping that?”

Ruby’s question seemed to perk him up. “You mean my Star Room? It’s a simple application of celestial power a lot of people have. You use the power inside of you to open a door to a small room that only you can access. Size varies from person to person, mines pretty big in fact, but at most it’s a small bedroom so you can’t just store everything.”

Ruby nodded, cocking her head as she thought about it. “So it’s a pocket room only you can access at any given time? What if you die, is the stuff lost forever or does it all just spill out?”

Issun’s response was swift and teasing “Whoa, way to make it dark. The room can be accessed by other people with some training but only if the target isn’t resisting or unconscious, so really only if they’re dead. It’s a pretty lucrative job to go around accessing dead people’s Star Rooms, though it’s not exactly held in high regard.”

Ruby nodded, bouncing on her toes. “So do I have one?” she asked excitedly.

Issun laughed “No way someone with enough power to use a Divine Instrument doesn’t have a good-sized one! It’s pretty simple: focus on the power inside of you, whatever you call it, then focus it into your fingers. Touch all your fingers together in a circle. Finally open your hand and push forward. Voila! Your hand is in the Star Room.”

Ruby nodded, cocking her head. “Focus on the power inside of you” sounded ambiguous, but she had plenty of practice utilizing her Aura so the principle should be the same. She stopped moving and closed her eyes, focusing deep inside. Breathe in and breathe out. Let the world float away, focus on her breath. Follow the breath inward.

There.

Ruby shivered. In place of the cool, almost watery feeling she normally got from her Aura was a warm, sticky sensation. Naming it escaped her, but she followed Issun’s instructions and pushed. The sludge-like sensation slowly gave way. The power came from her core, up to her shoulders, then out along her arm to her hand. She formed a circle with her fingers and tried to finish expelling the energy. Whatever had replaced her Aura didn’t like being so compacted, but after a few seconds it did as she wanted. Her fingers felt hot from so much power radiating through them.

Ruby opened her eyes, slightly surprised that Issun had been respectfully quiet while she concentrated. She looked at her hand and found it coated in a substance like black paint. “What is this sludge?” she muttered.

She felt a poke on her right cheek as Issun’s voice came from her shoulder. “Hey! It’s not sludge! Think of it as ink, your medium for expressing yourself to the world!” Ruby jumped slightly at the sudden touch and proximity of the noise. Without her noticing he had climbed onto her shoulder and had been watching her.

Focus lost, the heat and black pigment faded. Ruby let out a sigh. “This ‘ink’ is annoying. Too thick not to mention hot. How is this convenient for anything? I think it even replaced my Aura. This is a bad deal.”

Issun radiated confusion at her complaints. “What’s Aura? Like a divination thing?”

Ruby was taken aback for a moment; it made sense he wouldn’t know what Aura was. She didn’t seem to have access to her Aura so of course no one here would either. It was such a foreign concept to her to not know about Auras, she couldn’t recall ever hearing that kind of ignorance from someone in Remnant. “Aura is the projection of the Soul,” Ruby explained. “All living beings have it within them, and once it’s unlocked it can protect you from harm, let you sense other people, or be applied in other ways. I was decent with my Aura back home but I can’t feel it anymore, just this inky-power. What is it called anyways?”

Issun let out a chuckle. “Eh, depends on who you ask. Some call it magic, but others say that it’s too sensible to be magic. Some call it faith but even heartless people can have it, and so on. Mana, Blessing, Gift, Celestial, there’s a dozen different names. I just call it power and people usually understand.” Ruby nodded. Obviously the people of Nippon weren’t as centralized as Remnant was. Issun’s amused voice continued as he bounced back to her bow. “Practice will make it easier and quicker to use, so don’t sweat it. I’m sure you’ll have it down in no time.”

Ruby groaned at that. Practicing with Aura was some of her least liked combat-related training, and she didn’t think this power would be any more entertaining. But she knew the value of hard work and studying, so she didn’t complain. Instead she once more focused on the Ink power and brought it up, channeling it down her arm, into her hand, and into her connected fingers, ignoring the building heat. She tried extending her hand forward only to feel like she was pressing against a wall. Ruby’s brow furrowed before remembering to spread her fingers as she went. As her hand opened she felt the ‘wall’ retract, leaving a space for her to reach through.

Ruby was slightly disturbed to see her hand seemingly disappear into thin air, but she could feel it just fine. The Room felt empty at first but then some sort of cloth appeared in her grip, so she pulled it out. Her other hand shot out to catch the material as there was far more of it than she expected. After juggling for a little bit, and ignoring Issun’s laughter, Ruby finally oriented the cloth without it touching the ground. It was two more kimonos, nearly identical to the one she already wore with different embroidery patterns. Issun let out a whistle before commenting, “You may be new around here but you got some real nice clothes. I can see these going for a pretty penny.”

Ruby was no expert in kimonos but after rooming with Weiss for a month she had come to recognize high-quality material when she felt it. She threw them over her left shoulder, mindful of Issun, before reaching into her Room again to see if any other gifts awaited her. Despite grasping around for several moments she found nothing else. Ruby sighed in disappointment. Perhaps it was greedy of her but if Amaterasu was giving her stuff she hoped for a bit more than just clothes. “Nothing else huh? Well can’t win them all,” Issun blithely remarked. Ruby rolled her eyes before pushing the extra kimonos back into her Star Room.

Ruby didn’t mind walking, but after five minutes without any change in scenery she was starting to feel frustrated. Then she saw a bump on the horizon, a hill or something, giving her a destination instead of wandering aimlessly. After several more minutes she came upon it, another sheer cliff face just like the edges of the islands she was standing on. However this one only went about 15 feet up. She studied it critically; there were no handholds but she could probably make a few with Divine Retribution and climb it. If she had Aura that wouldn’t be necessary, but she tried to ignore that thought.

Issun interrupted her musings. “Hey, go break those pots to your left!” Ruby blinked at the random suggestion, looking in the direction he indicated. Just by the cliff face were several old ceramic pots lined up.

Ruby approached them cautiously. “Why do I need to break them? They seem perfectly fine to me.”

Issun responded with amusement in his voice. “These are prayer pots. Containers too old to look good or use are left out as offerings. Normally they aren’t anything worth noting, or rarely can curse you, but if you’re blessed you can find valuable things inside them like mysteriously fresh food or money.”

Ruby wasn’t sure what to make of that information. “Blessed? Like having a lot of power or something different? And why would I want to break them in that case? Not to mention I’d like to avoid any chance of being cursed, my life is hectic enough as is.”

“Not blessed as in powerful, blessed as in lucky,” Issun explained. “Some saints have lived entirely just from things they find at random. Food in pots, old rabbits just hop into their camp, berries ripen as they approach, that sort of thing. By itself it’s not the most fulfilling thing, but combine that with some money on the side and hunting and you’re sitting pretty.”

Ruby mulled it over. She supposed being blessed was a way for gods or spirits of this world to look out for people they liked. Hopefully Amaterasu would watch over her as well, although she didn’t know of another way to make money yet, but that was a bridge to cross later. But first… “OK but do I need to break the pots? Breaking stuff people left out feels like bullying to me.”

Issun sighed. “Fine, ruin my fun. You can just upend them, you don’t NEED to break them. It’s just fun.” Ruby laughed. Breaking things was fun, she just didn’t want to break other people’s stuff without permission, offering or not. She picked up a pot, held out her hand, and tilted it over. Something rattled inside and Ruby withdrew a long, thin package. It was a simple wooden box, only a few inches thick but near a foot long. Opening it revealed some kind of dough balls. “Oh, dumplings! You’re real lucky!” exclaimed Issun.

“Dumplings?” Ruby wasn’t familiar with the term. They were slightly warm to the touch.

Issun hopped onto her arm for a closer look. “Yeah, dumplings. Just dough with some filling, meat, fruit, vegetables, that kind of thing. Too big for me but you’ll probably like them.”

Ruby inspected the dumpling in hand. It probably wasn’t a finger-food but whatever. She bit into it, finding it filled with ground pork. Deciding to eat the rest while they were warm she leaned against the cliff. Issun joined her, producing a meal too small for her to discern from his Star Room. They spent the next few minutes eating in silence. Ruby found it comforting. Despite the crazy places she’d been to, the odd way this world worked, and not really having anyone to rely on, things weren’t bad. Issun was a nice companion, she was learning, and she had food that tasted good.

When they finished she decided to keep the box for storing things and turned over the other two pots. Some coins fell out into her hand, a few small green circles with center-cut squares, and a yellow oval with a black mark on it. “Money?” Ruby guessed, unfamiliar with the currency.

Issun spoke up. “It’s called Yen. Uses a lot of big numbers, takes about five-hundred Yen to buy a small bag of birdseed if that tells you anything. Mon are the little green ones, they’re about ten Yen each, the yellow Koban are one-hundred.” That seemed a little silly to Ruby. Why not just have the little ones equal 1 and the big ones equal 10 in that case? It was nice knowing she could earn money from prayer pots, paltry as the funds may be.

An apple fell out of the last pot. She inspected it but it was just a normal apple, so she decided to keep it for later. “Does the Star Room help with storing food or am I gonna need to eat stuff before it rots?”

Issun gave a slightly irritated sigh at all of her questions but answered regardless. “It’ll help a little since air’s not moving around or anything. An apple still won’t last long.”

“Thanks Issun.” He bounced in happiness at the praise as Ruby once again concentrated on accessing her Star Room. After putting everything away she studied the cliff. The dirt was pretty solid, a little harder for making handholds than she’d like, so she walked along it to see if there was a better way up. “What ya looking for, Ruby?” Issun inquired. “I think we’ll have to just climb this or turn back.”

“I don’t have a problem with a little climbing, but I was hoping for some handholds. Without Aura this won’t be easy to get up, and I don’t think digging holes is an appropriate use of Divine Retribution.”

Issun dwelled on her Aura comment before replying, “There is a way you can get up this with the power you have. Do the same thing as opening the Star Room, but instead of your fingers, use your hands, knees, feet, elbows, whatever. Then when you jump make sure those parts hit the wall and release the power! You’ll stick there for a moment, just long enough to jump again for some more height. With how much power you have you should be strong enough to make it to the top.”

That raised several questions for Ruby, but she decided she had bugged Issun enough for one day. “So just focus power, jump, stick, jump? Are there any limits I should worry about?”

“Not really. The need to focus so much power means it’s pretty much impossible to do so more than once per jump even if you were a god. There aren't many people that can do it unlike the Star Room which is as common as dirt, but I’m sure you’ll be fine. I know there's also a way to do this trick in the air so you can basically jump twice, but I’m not sure how.”

Ruby thought jumping on air sounded awesome, but right now she needed to scale the wall. First she closed her eyes to access her power once more; it was easier now that she knew what it felt like but she would need more than what it took to open her Star Room. The power came to her slowly but surely, building in her gut until she took a deep breath, flowing into her limbs as she exhaled. Heat rose in her legs from a nice warmth to a sunburn to near scalding. Ruby glanced down at herself to see her legs shining beneath her kimono, both hands black as pitch. “Hold on Issun,” she warned. She acted quickly before the power faded, running toward the wall and jumping as high as she could, making it nearly seven feet into the air.

As Ruby reached the peak of her jump she recalled Issun’s instructions and slapped the wall. Before gravity could pull her down she pushed against the dirt and the heat of her power subsided a bit, ink-colored flowers blooming around her hands and feet. The weightless moment passed all too quickly. Ruby pulled with her arms and pushed with her legs, trying for maximum height. Although she leapt up she forget to go forward, overshooting the top of the small cliff by several feet. On the way back down she threw her arms forward and leaned in, catching herself on the edge but knocking some wind out of her lungs. She clung to the grass to prevent herself from slipping.

“You OK Ruby?!” Issun called.

“Yeah, just hang on really tight,” Ruby gasped, slightly out of breath from the impact. She drew up her legs and kicked off as hard as she could, inverting herself. With perfect timing Ruby pushed off the ground, successfully completing the flip. She wobbled for a moment to catch her balance before standing firm and letting out a sigh of relief.

After they had both regained their breath, Issun exclaimed, “That was FUN! What a rush, can we do that again?”

Ruby only laughed, recalling riding roller coasters with Yang. “I don’t mind running around doing flips and stuff if that’s what you mean, my gymnastics are pretty good in fact. But let’s leave the chest hit in the trash.” Ruby forgot Issun had no idea what ‘gymnastics’ were, but he got the gist of it. “We’ve come this far, let’s keep GOING!” she cheered half for herself, half out of genuine excitement for overcoming a huge obstacle. Ruby confidently walked forward, reaching another bridge in less than five minutes where her stride faltered.

The bridge was destroyed.

Ruby wanted to kick something. After all that boring walking and then landing chest-first into a cliff and MORE WALKING, the bridge was broken. She was going to have to turn back, WALK back, with nothing to show for it! Issun hopped onto her shoulder when she wasn’t looking and loudly proclaimed, “Fear not Ruby, for I have the solution!”

Ruby cast him a doubtful look. “How can you fix a broken bridge?”

Issun produced his Denkomaru, only it was in a sheath featuring a brush tip. “Let me wow you with this, one of the Thirteen Brush Techniques, Rejuvenation!” With that the tip of the brush turned black with the ink-like power, seeming to encounter a wall midair. Issun began wildly waving the brush up and down leaving ink on an invisible flat surface, all the while making noises as if he were really exerting himself. With a final “Hyaah!” he withdrew the brush with an extravagant flourish.

The celestial ink turned into black smoke that filled in every missing part of the bridge. The smoke suddenly dissipated, and in its place the bridge was good as new. Ruby blinked in awe. “What was that?”

Issun laughed triumphantly. “That was Rejuvenation, a Celestial Brush Technique from one of the Thirteen Brush Gods. By drawing the right symbols under the right circumstances you can call upon the gods’ powers. In this case I drew in everything that was missing from my view, so the god replaced it.”

Ruby was amazed. While the Star Room and Wall Jump were both pretty cool this was beyond that. Wall Jump was easily surpassed by her Semblance and the Star Room, though convenient, was small in scale compared to warping reality and time. “Thirteen Brush Gods? So there are thirteen powers like this?”

Unseen by Ruby, Issun shrugged as he put Denkomaru away. “It’s a bit complicated since the exact number changes over time and even then it’s not rare for one of them to actually be twins or triplets that have related abilities. But in very vague terms yes there are thirteen Brush Gods, each has a brush technique, and if you learn it and practice then you can use that technique to perform miracles.”

Ruby would definitely inquire further on this subject at a later time; no need to bombard Issun with more questions. She couldn’t resist testing the repaired bridge, gingerly walking on it and jumping up and down, finding no indication that it had been broken at all. Issun eventually piped up with, “Let’s go already! After all this walking I want to know where we’ve been going this whole time,” and Ruby had to get on with it.

The bridge connected to a rather small island. A small path led up to the right and straight ahead was another island with a dozen-foot gap between the two, too far for her to jump but tantalizing close. Ruby approached the gap to see if there were a way to cross when she noticed something odd clinging to the edge of the island. It looked like a night sky condensed into liquid, dark purple with glinting stars inside of it. Ruby reached down to touch it; it felt warm, wet, and slightly denser than normal water, but her hand was completely dry when she pulled it back. “Cool,” was all she could think to say.

“I think this is the River of the Heavens,” Issun spoke from the ground.

“Sounds important.” Ruby gave it another once-over. “Not much of a river though, more of a puddle.”

“According to the legend, it’s a mighty river that collects the stars as they fall each day before sweeping them away. The current throws them back up to the Heavens the next night. Not sure why it’s so dried up, though. Something must have damaged it.” There was a beat of silence as Ruby absorbed this new information before Issun stated, “But it’s no problem for my Rejuvenation!” He once more brandished Denkomaru in its brush form.

Black smoke again emanated from the air, filling the River, but unlike last time it suddenly flew away without settling, leaving the River in the same withered state as it had been previously. Ruby looked around awkwardly not wanting to embarrass Issun for his apparent failure. At least he acted like it didn’t bother him. “Oh well. Took me forever to get to this point. I shouldn’t have expected to handle something this big so soon.” He hopped back into her bow, unnaturally quiet.

Ruby turned and took the path leading up a slight incline, tactfully keeping quiet for Issun’s sake, but it shortly came to a circular dead-end. The sky extended as far as she could see, and while her back was to it something unexpectedly struck her. Ruby whirled around while grabbing her scythe, Issun letting out a “whoa!” at the sudden spin. She found the whole sky glowing; even the blackness between stars emitted light. Determining there wasn’t actually a threat Ruby let go of her scythe and moved a bit closer to the edge, trying to figure out what the light’s appearance meant.

Issun had a recollection, sharing it aloud. “I remember talking with my Grandpa, he loved the constellations and their stories. I think those stars are the Chosen Snake. If I remember right, a snake loved to paint and became a master at it but was rejected at every turn for being a snake. Disheartened, he ran away from people and lived in the forest as a normal snake until one day he came upon a girl painting a beautiful landscape. Suddenly a wet branch above the girl broke and hit the page, ruining it and causing her to cry. Unable to handle her grief he took up her brush and drew the painting exactly as it was before, slinking away prepared for rejection. But instead the girl turned into the goddess Amaterasu and thanked him before begging to hear his story. After hearing his story, she decided to reward him by turning him into a dragon-god so his passion and kindness would never again be turned away for what he was.”

Ruby smiled broadly. “So… I actually really like that story and would love to hear more, but how does that explain why the sky’s glowing?”

Issun hesitated for a second. “I guess it doesn’t, but it was all I had so I thought I’d share. There’s something odd about that constellation, though. It’s in the right part of the sky, but one of the stars is missing. Maybe because of the River of the Heavens being broken?”

That was less helpful than Ruby hoped. “Can you fix it with Rejuvenation? Or if not can you show me where to put a star? Maybe it’s reacting to one of us since it wasn’t all glowy before we got up here.” She extended her arm for him to walk along. He held Denkomaru once more and put a single dot in the air. A bright star appeared before dropping right out of the sky. Issun mumbled an indifferent “didn’t think so” before pointing with Denkomaru. Ruby summoned a small bit of power, her index finger turning black and hot.

She raised her arm to better see the spot Issun indicated when he gave her some advice. “Try to picture the sky as a canvas, then press your brush, or I guess finger, to that canvas.” Ruby nodded and focused. She could practically feel the color leech away as she pictured it as a flat surface, then she just poked at it. A new bright star appeared, but unlike Issun’s it stuck and all the other stars grew brighter. Visible lines appeared to form the constellation; the dragon grew more realistic by the second until emitting a burst of golden light. Ruby and Issun both squeezed their eyes shut.

Once the light subsided they found themselves in the golden, cloud-filled realm Ruby had first encountered Amaterasu. She looked around to see if Amaterasu was there, but she and Issun were alone. A serpentine creature Ruby recognized as a dragon flew down, though it was unlike any Grimm dragon she’d seen. Part of its body wound through a big scroll and there were differently-colored orbs in each of its four claws.

The creature spoke in a calm, deep, masculine voice. “Hello Little Gem. I am Yomigami, God of Restoration. I was once part of Mother Amaterasu’s power, but in her absence I was forced to flee into this constellation to hide from the dark’s influence. But as you have appeared I shall give my all to you. The power of Rejuvenation, to repair that which has gone wrong, is yours. May the sun’s light shine through you.” Another glowing orb came from the dragon and circled around Ruby before flying into her chest. In the blink of an eye she and Issun had returned to the cliff.

They were silent for a moment. Yomigami hadn’t given either of them time to speak before just disappearing. “Well that was a thing,” Ruby said.

“That was Rejuvenation. You just got the Rejuvenation technique by wandering around this place.” Issun didn’t sound upset so much as confused, but Ruby couldn’t help but apologize.

“Sorry, it just kind of happened.” She didn’t want to make him feel invalidated or weak, but he waved it off, his tiny arm just visible. He was probably pondering something but Ruby couldn’t see his face in any real detail to know what.

Issun kept his voice level. “Let’s see if you can restore that river. It’ll be a real test if you have the full powers of Rejuvenation now.” Ruby headed down the trail, trying not to dwell too deeply on Issun’s sudden mood shift. After all, they hadn’t met long ago and it wasn’t her place.

By the time Ruby returned to the River of the Heavens the silence had again become comfortable between them. She surveyed the ‘river’ for a minute. The empty space was rather large and the only thing differentiating it from a sheer drop off was the remains of liquid starlight clinging to the sides. Ruby summoned her power, the burn arising with predictable slowness but also with predictable certainty. As her finger turned ink-black she looked at the River and wondered how exactly she was meant to do this, scribble the ink everywhere? With a shrug Ruby did just that, reaching forward until she felt the ‘canvas’. She simply wiggled her finger all over the empty air between her and the River.

After a minute Ruby felt a pull in her gut where the power came from, and the ink started to abate. Ruby assumed there was a limit to how much energy she could use at once, something to consider in the future since the River was mostly filled in. The ink in the air seemed to smoke and writhe until it flew forward to cover the entire River of the Heavens. The smoke vanished, leaving the prettiest river Ruby had ever seen. The “water” was deep blue, glittering with myriad stars; she was unsure if they were reflected from above, below, or actually contained within the liquid. “Wow…” she breathed, eyes wide with wonder.

Issun let her have the moment. “Be careful crossing. Don’t want to find out what happens if we go off the edge.”

It took a second for his words to register. “WHAT?!” Ruby shouted. “You want me to do what now?!”

“That’s the whole reason we came this way, right? To see where this place leads?”

“Yeah and a river is where it leads to, end of story. Let’s turn back now.” She spun on her heel but Issun’s teasing tone stopped her.

“Oh, come on. What are you, scared? It’s just a little river.”

Ruby immediately rejected that statement. “Not only is this river NOT little, it’s filled with liquid I don’t even know I can swim in, and I don’t swim in funky water wearing my casual clothes, anyway. There might be monsters in there I can’t run away from, and even if there aren’t any I don’t have a swimsuit. I don’t feel like freezing my butt off or ruining everything else on me!”

Issun started laughing at her. “You ARE scared, aren’t you!”

“I am not scared,” she refuted, “it’s purely practical. You get me a stretch of normal water that we know nothing lives in and proper swimming clothes, then I’ll be fine.”

Issun’s snickering died down. “Alright, alright, you aren’t scared. But this is the River of the Heavens, a holy place, and you’re Amaterasu’s kid. Nothing bad will happen to you and your belongings won’t be destroyed in the Star Room. All you gotta do is deal with some wet clothes for a bit.”

Ruby glared at her small companion before offering a compromise. “Alright fine, I’ll cross this one River, here and back. After that you can’t act like I’m doing it again, got it? I don’t care where we are or what we’re doing, if it’s not a carefully-inspected area for bathing or playing I am not getting in the water, end of discussion. You can’t try to badger me or act surprised I won’t do it.”

Perhaps sensing that it was the best he was going to get, Issun acquiesced. “Okay, this one river and no other body of water. Can we get going now?”

Ruby pouted but eyed the River to see if there were any hints at what lay underneath its beautiful surface. Issun jumped up to the top of her head and grabbed her hair but he was so small she barely felt it. Seeing nothing that could be deemed a potential threat, she took a fortifying breath and knelt on the bank, cautiously dipping her legs into the water. Like before it was pleasantly warm and felt denser than normal water, but it also sent a tingle up her legs, through her spine, and into her head. Bracing herself and giving a quick prayer under her breath of “Grandma, please don’t let this screw me,” she slipped in.

Against her expectations she was perfectly buoyant rather then sinking or struggling against a strong current, floating peacefully. “Disappointing,” Issun muttered, but Ruby ignored him. She swam forward with a powerful butterfly stroke, making short work of crossing the river. She wouldn’t mind swimming in it again if not for her paranoia about something happening; the tingle was definitely not natural. Ruby climbed up the other side without issue, the heavy liquid holding her for a moment before all the water touching her returned to the river and Issun returned to the bow at her back. She took some calming breaths as he remarked, “That was even less eventful than I was expecting, you’re even dry! Don’t you feel silly now?”

Ruby’s pout was fitting for her age. “Nope.”

Looking around, the first thing Ruby noticed was another glowing gate like the one that had led her to this place. It was at the opposite side of the small island they were on, and the only thing separating Ruby and Issun from it was a chest. It looked regal as it was made from dark wood lined with gold. She approached the chest cautiously, removing her scythe to give it a light whack and earning Issun’s confusion. “What are you doing, Red? It’s a box not bomb.”

Ruby blushed faintly. “Don’t you play games! Monsters with fangs or tentacles always use treasure to lure you in and digest you!” There was a beat of silence before Issun started laughing uproariously. Ruby’s blush darkened slightly as she holstered her scythe and dropped to one knee to open the unlocked chest. Inside was a simple pouch, the tight fabric alternating between cool gray and bright gold so it changed color depending on the viewing angle. It closed with a silver drawstring.

Ruby turned it over in her hand. Besides looking nice it was empty and didn’t seem to be worth a giant chest to itself. But Issun asked for a closer look which she granted with a shrug, holding it close to her bow. He hummed. “I think this is an Astral Pouch. They’re ultra rare and I’ve only ever heard my Grandpa say he saw one in person. If you put food into it, it’ll break down into this gold powder substance, then if you get hurt badly the powder flies into the wound and heals you. More powder means larger wounds can be fixed, but it takes a lot of food.”

Now Ruby thought it was way too valuable a thing to just be sitting out in the open. “So it turns nutrients into healing? And all you have to do is carry it?”

Issun shrugged. “It’s a secondhand rumor you just heard, but yes, you need to carry it on you physically, not in the Star Room. I don’t know if you can use the powder at will, or on others, or if it automatically heals you when you get hurt.”

Ruby nodded absently; she trusted Issun’s stories by this point. She remembered the apple she had stored earlier, fetching it from her Star Room and dropping it into the pouch. Before her eyes the apple dissolved into beautiful and shiny golden dust, not even enough to fill a thimble but undoubtedly there. “Cool…”

Ruby stood and secured the Astral Pouch at her side with the loose ribbon of her bow, then inspected the prayer pots framing the portal. She discovered some more money, another apple she kept, and a few oranges which she fed to the pouch. With that she stepped into the light.


	2. First Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Moving just a few days after the last chapter went up so not sure how this chapter will go, quicker because everything is settled or slower because I’m doing stuff.  
Reception on last chapter is about what I could have hoped, not many people actually read it, but on the whole most people seemed to like it and were supportive leaving either nice comments or comments wanting more, which is nice, although not as many of the longer reviews I always love, both as a writer and just seeing on other people’s works. Odd note, this story, at least so far, seems much more popular on FFN then AO3 which I didn’t expect, I don’t know if that’s normal, thinking about it I’m probably more likely to find some random crossover on FFN to, but I feel like my other 2 stories were more liked on AO3.  
I did change the geography of the mountain a little, adding another plateau to rest at and expanding the flat/ponds part, but nothing I thought of as too big.  
“Calmingly” is not a word according to LibraOffice and I feel lied to now.  
Beta’d by Wild Blue Sonder. Thank you Sonder.

Another flash of light revealed their new setting which was almost the same as before, endless sky and sheer cliffs, but instead of flat islands they stood at the foot of a long set of stairs ascending a mountain. To their right was a swiftly-flowing river that tumbled into nothingness. Ruby couldn’t help but groan at how many steps there were. She was up for a good hike as much as the next physically-active girl but this was just excessive; there had to be hundreds of stairs minimum!  
Issun seemed to read Ruby’s mind. “We’ve come this far, so let’s keep going I guess. No need to rush or anything, this looks like it’ll take a while.” Ruby nodded, accepted that she’d come too far to turn back now, and began to climb.  
And climb…  
And climb…  
The hike was pretty but the addition of tall trees at the sides of the road and the sound of the river wasn’t quite enough to cause renewed interest in their surroundings. Neither felt like talking so with nothing else to do they continued to climb until reaching a plateau. The stairs continued on the other side but Ruby was just happy that she could rest on level ground.  
As she stepped off the road, what sounded like a great wind arose from the ground and Ruby suddenly found herself encircled by a large red barrier. Three plumes of purple smoke left behind as many humanoid figures. They were about four feet tall completely hidden by green clothing. Their faces were covered by single sheets of paper with the same type of word-symbol that was on the bottom of Divine Retribution. One of the creatures turned around to spank his butt at Ruby in a taunt while another brought an odd-looking flute to its mouth beneath the mask.  
More mystified than afraid, Ruby hopped back to keep all three of them within sight, drawing her scythe and assuming a fighting stance in case they were hostile. “Issun, please explain what’s going on, pretty please!” she called.  
“Sorry, I was startled, too,” he replied. “Um, let’s see, those are Green Imps. Imps are the most common demons that exist. They’re mostly tricksters so you shouldn’t have too much of a problem, just don’t underestimate them. Throwing some poo and dropping a vase is all fun and games until it turns out the poo was full of plague and the doctor just died from his favorite vase smashing into his skull.”  
Ruby eyed the imps warily as they bounced around, not attacking yet. “Does their color mean anything or are they just called ‘Green’?”  
Issun’s answer was delayed. “Sorry, what? Why are they Green Imps not just Imps? Well like I said Imps are the most common variety of demon. Think of them as evil monkeys, and just like monkeys different imps do different things. From stronger Red Imps to digging Yellow Imps, they all come in different colors. Some can be really dangerous– Black Imps have been known to slaughter human warriors, but some mostly give up their evil ways to become merchants. Guess they’re smart enough to realize they’ll survive longer like that. But they are demons that need exorcising, so if you run into any more Green Imps just remember they’re not very smart.”  
The creature playing its flute approached Ruby. She noticed the other end was weighted, expecting the Imp to wield it like a club she leapt to the side, but it exploded outward instead, missing her by inches. “Alright Issun, is there something you aren’t telling me? Because you seem distracted considering we’re fighting for our lives!”  
“Nah, you got it backwards! I’m not distracted, I’m confident! No way some small fry like this is a threat to you, just slash them once or twice and we can move on. I was actually looking at the Meeting Barrier. If you know how and you’re with someone else strong you can form this barrier out of the clashing energies. Technically anyone with power can do it but it’s pretty complicated for humans while demons seem to do it naturally.” Ruby listened intently as she kept watching the Imps, circling to prevent them from trapping her between them. “Most barriers have flaws you can attack and break to escape, and it disappears when the caster is unconscious so they aren’t normally that big of a deal. But this one is flawless– the only way out is to kill the Imps.” One of them jumped to attack with its flute but Ruby simply rolled aside to avoid it. “The question is, how did some Green Imps make a barrier this good? It either takes a lot of skill or a lot of power, neither of which they have. The only thing I can think of is something else is giving them strength to make this barrier, but I don’t know who or why… Well, doesn’t matter right now. Kill them already!”  
Ruby decided to treat them like little beowolves. She waited a beat for them to get closer before attacking in a flurry of movement, Divine Retribution piercing the underside of the left Imp’s chin and exiting through its skull. She pulled the scythe free through its face and drove the spiked end of the shaft through the eye of the right Imp in the same movement. Both demons burst into multicolored petals as the final Imp rushed forward, flute raised, only for Ruby to swiftly take its head off.  
The flowers petals fluttered to the ground before another whoosh signaled the barrier falling away. Ruby looked around to see if any more demons were hopping about, but she was in the clear. She sat on the first step of the next set of stairs, leaning back to catch her breath. Issun let her rest for a minute before asking, “You OK? You took care of that pretty easily but I know fighting demons can be a bit harsh your first time.”  
Ruby chuckled. “To be honest I’m more tired from climbing than that fight. I don’t suppose it’s always going to be that easy, is it?”  
It was Issun’s turn to laugh. “Not even close. Imps are the lowest of the low in more ways than one, especially Green Imps. There are much tougher demons out there.”  
Ruby nodded in understanding but wondered about his earlier explanation. “You said there were Merchant imps, right? How does that work when you said demons were made from evil emotions?”  
“It’s not exactly them being not evil so much as their other instincts overrode it,” Issun explained. “Demons can be smart, and for some reason Imps in particular learn pretty easily. Not the ones you just killed, the smart ones are pretty obvious. They don’t want to die, so what are the weakest demons supposed to do? Keep attacking and humans will kill them, don’t attack and their own feelings will rip them up inside, not to mention other demons. Some Imps figured out there are other kinds of ‘evil’ to sustain them, like grave robbing, being a mean jester, or running a cutthroat business. They’re still evil, they have to be to exist, they just channel that evil into more acceptable ways to survive.” Ruby found that rather sad, made to be evil only to be killed for it, but Issun placated her. “No need to get your undies in a twist. Dispersing those negative feelings and letting them be something other than negativity is good in of itself, lets positivity flow back into the world. Maybe you don’t have to kill Imps if they’re useful but don’t think of that as being nice, think of it as a neutral play.”  
Ruby sighed and accepted that this world was not hers and it was still too early to try and act like she knew everything. She stood and prepared herself for more climbing only to see something glitter out of the corner of her eye. Where the demons had died there were the small Yen coins. She picked them up trying to figure out how they got there when Issun chimed in “The demons must have been carrying them. Sometimes happens a demon has money or food on them for some reason so when you kill them whatever they are holding fall down.”  
Ruby shrugged and pocketed the money making a mental note to remember to look where she killed demons before going back to the stairs.  
So. Many. Stairs.  
After what felt like half an hour of ascending the never-ending staircase Ruby was ready to throw a fit worthy of a toddler. She was breathing heavy from going so long without rest but wasn’t truly tired yet, and just as she thought about taking a break, she saw the steps level out ahead of her once more. Previous exhaustion forgotten, she ran the rest of the way and reached the top in less than a minute only to freeze at the sight before her.  
What she found was pure beauty, a glade filled with trees and undergrowth so thick she couldn’t see the other side, just another set of steps rising beyond it. The river flowed more slowly, gathering in wide pools. But what truly made it beautiful was the abundance of flora and fauna. From the trees hung hundreds of apples, oranges, peaches, and at least two other types of fruit she couldn’t identify. The undergrowth was filled with vines and bushes of gourds, grapes, and berries in every color. She also recognized potatoes, ginseng, and carrots growing in the ground. If a plant wasn’t filled to bursting with these fruits, berries, or vegetables then it was covered in a rainbow of flowers.  
There were thousands of small birds flitting or sitting about in more colors then Ruby had thought birds could be. On the ground were deer, boars, rabbits, mice, and even a bear. She stopped gawking when something tickled her cheek only to watch a beautiful red butterfly wing past, the first insect she’d seen since changing worlds. It was soon joined by a pretty white, a blazing yellow, a shiny black, and a glistening green butterfly as well. Ruby moved to study the river. The water was so clear it was hard to see, and many fish swam in the deep center, none larger than her forearm.  
Overwhelmed by the colors and life Ruby moved to the side to look at the river. Calmer in the wider area it was so clear it was hard to see the water itself and further in it was filled with fish, none larger than her forearm.  
Never before had she seen so much life in one area. It seemed to radiate calm and the kaleidoscope of colors was more than she thought nature capable of producing. Issun was similarly stunned, unable to speak at the wondrous sight before them.  
The duo stayed in place simply taking in the gorgeous sight, some birds flew around them, one red bird with a green stomach even landed on Ruby’s shoulder for a moment before flying away again, Ruby couldn’t help how the butterflies kept catching her eyes, following there progress.  
After an indeterminable amount of time Ruby finally moved to break the spell, picking an apple off one of the overburdened trees. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Issun bounce onto a vine nearly hidden by all the grapes growing on it. Hesitantly, in case there was some magic involved, Ruby brought the fruit to her mouth and took a bite. It was the sweetest, juiciest apple she’d ever tasted with a nice firmness to it. Issun’s grape had already disappeared and he was eagerly going for another when she went to stop him, putting her hand in the way. “Slow down a bit. This place is so peaceful– let’s not ruin that.”  
Issun was literally hopping mad as he rejoined her.“So what, we’re supposed to starve with all this food here?”  
Ruby rolled her eyes and spoke calmly. “I didn’t say that, Issun, I just meant let’s spread out. Instead of picking some corner dry let’s walk around and take a little bit from everywhere.”  
Issun relented. “Fine. Walking around looks fun, anyway. I’m already getting inspired.” Ruby smiled as he bounced back onto a berry bush. She could relate to that feeling; the surroundings certainly invigorated her as well.  
The two moved around, taking fruits and vegetables here, a handful of berries there. The animals were unafraid of them, one deer going so far as to nuzzle Ruby’s hand and a boar trying to eat Issun much to his horror and Ruby’s amusement. The birds landed on her shoulders freely, and she saw that they also landed on the other larger animals without fear. A part of Ruby longed to acquire some meat. While not much for camping on her own she’d had extensive lessons from school, her uncle, and her father on how to survive in the wilderness. To see such easy game within reach was tempting, but between the serene atmosphere and not having a knife or any other equipment to properly butcher an animal, she abandoned the notion. She was also mindful to feed some food to her Astral Pouch, trying to make it a third out of the things she grabbed. She noticed Issun wasn’t being as methodical as her but as long as he didn’t leave emptiness in his wake she wouldn’t complain.  
They continued for a while, although Ruby found it hard to tell time without any change in the skies. Eventually they found a spot near the cliff edge without too many animals and they paused to rest and eat. Issun took out a scroll, Denkomaru, and some paints. Ruby felt a quick spike of jealousy that she easily squashed down. She’d never painted much despite some talent for it, but she’d also never felt the desire to capture a sight like she did now. Perhaps throughout this journey she could learn some techniques from Issun. She tried to see what he was painting exactly but only caught the colors, mostly green and red, since he kept moving the scroll out of view.  
Ruby finally got up and began to stretch, calling to Issun. “OK dry your ink or whatever you need to do, we should get moving before we waste away here.” Issun grumbled but didn’t argue so she guessed he agreed. By the time she finished stretching he was waiting for her on a branch, and with a nod from Ruby he disappeared back into her bow. Although she was moving again, walking through trees with animals everywhere was significantly more interesting than climbing stupid stairs, but she’d still prefer to have a solid destination in mind. Many minutes later the glade thinned and she grumpily picked up the pace, expecting more steps as the mountain loomed, but instead she let out a gasp of disgust as she came upon a blackened clearing within the beautiful grove.  
Ruby thoughtlessly barged forward to get a better look, so when Issun cried “Wait a second!” she was already too far to stop when another Meeting Barrier sprang up. Jumping in shock Ruby grabbed her scythe as two Green Imps appeared before her eyes, a quick glance confirming a third behind her. This trio was much more aggressive as one in front attacked with its flute right away and the one at the rear tried smacking her head. Ruby rolled sideways, crouched and ready for action with all three Imps in sight. “Issun, did you know this was gonna happen?!” she shouted, taking note of a couple white spots indicating what she thought were the barrier’s weak points.  
Issun sighed in annoyance. “Yeah, I was trying to warn you that it looked like some demons were polluting the area.”  
Ruby frowned and asked, “Polluted? You mean that burnt patch?” The Imps hopped around trying to enclose her as she gave a retaliatory slash, not trying to hit them but herding the three together.  
“Yeah, I told you demons were just clumps of negative emotions before. What did you think it was, a metaphor? They’re negativity given form, poisoning their surroundings.” Ruby’s frown deepened. Issun had certainly not said that earlier; she thought he was talking metaphorically and not literal about physical negativity that could harm the environment.  
As all three Imps spread out again they unwittingly got into position for her. In a single fluid motion Ruby swung her scythe at the left Imp’s left side, over the middle Imp, and back down through the right Imp’s right shoulder, shearing both Imps, before continuing the spin and stabbing the last Imp through its forehead with the spike of the shaft. The fallen demons left three clouds of petals in their wake followed by the barrier’s collapse. Before Ruby could even catch her breath more flowers and grass sprang from the dead ground, spreading outward with a playful swirl of wind until she couldn’t even tell there’d been a blackened patch.  
Issun excitedly piped up. “You pulled off some Divine Intervention! When demons are killed the resulting positivity repairs any damage they might have caused. It’s not a cure-all but it’s so pretty and heals so much that people say it must be Divine whenever it happens. It also gets lumped together with random acts of kindness that seem impossible if you aren’t a God like things appearing or lucky winds and stuff. You did good, Rue!”  
Ruby didn’t even register the new nickname as she patted the ground. Her actions had caused a real, tangible difference. To call it Divine felt a little overblown but the healed land felt holy to her. She couldn’t help but shiver as she pictured the golden realm she and Amaterasu had spoken in. The fact that their talk, that place, and that wolf truly led to something like this left her feeling rather small… like a small part of a very large and beautiful painting.  
Issun was oblivious to her emotional reaction, though. “Let’s get going!” he declared. Ruby returned to the present, once more moving onward. The demons felt so real and she understood why she should slay them, but maybe some demons weren’t purely evil and she didn’t have to slaughter them mercilessly. However, since she had seen the aftermath of demon-slaying with her own two eyes, she would strive to exorcise them and do good wherever she could. She quickly tried to look if they had dropped anything but saw nothing.  
As the staircase leading up the mountain came into view, the same five colorful butterflies from earlier fluttered around her before returning to the glade, seeing her off, and a chorus of birdsong bid her farewell. Ruby focused on her newfound resolve rather than feeling dismayed that she had to climb more stairs.

* * *

By Ruby’s estimate, it took another hour to reach the top of the stairs. She paced herself to avoid getting burnt out, but the last time she’d been so tired was when she first picked up a scythe and practiced from sunrise to sunset. At least this time Yang wasn’t around to yell at her for being too stupid to take breaks. About halfway up the steps, Issun had started humming to himself while mixing paints for later, finishing just before they reached the top where a vast cavern greeted them. Ruby wanted to jump for joy but was just too tired, sprawling on the ground instead. Issun protested the sudden shift but she ignored him.  
Once she had regained some of her energy, Ruby stood to enter the cave. The cave was large enough to fit two of her old houses and the only noticeable feature was a towering statue of a slightly pudgy man with more hair on his face than scalp, and he held something up to a hole in the ceiling where light shone through. “The Cave of Nagi is real?” Issun asked in awe, not really addressing her, but he elaborated after she glanced at him for an explanation. “One-hundred years ago a horrible monster called Orochi terrorized Nippon, and every year it’d pick a sacrificial girl to eat from Kamiki. One year it chose a girl named Nami, loved by a man named Nagi, who killed Orochi with the help of the white wolf Shiranui. This is a holy place for swordsmen, but I didn’t think it was real.”  
Ruby was annoyed to receive the abridged version of the tale yet regarded the statue with renewed interest. She wouldn’t have guessed the thing in Nagi’s hand was meant to be a blade; time and weather had eroded it to the point where only the hilt remained. “Should we fix the sword?” she wondered aloud. Issun was still caught up in their surroundings and replied with a distracted “sure”, causing her to roll her eyes. She lifted her hand and called on the power of Rejuvenation, tracing the general outline of where the sword was supposed to be. The smoke dissipated and revealed a reformed blade pointing straight up. Issun flinched at the sight having not been paying attention.  
As Ruby inspected her work with a critical eye, but jumped back when the light above the sword suddenly shone with great intensity. She started reaching for her scythe before realizing another series of stars glimmered overhead, just like with Yomigami. “Issun, do you know this constellation?”  
He didn’t answer right away. “It’s been a long time since me and Gramps talked about constellations, so let me think.” Ruby waited until she got bored and started tapping her foot, then Issun finally spoke in a reserved manner. “I think it’s the Blade of Evil’s Bane. A small nation that would later grow to rule most of Nippon had a horrible time with bandits, corrupt politicians, and generally scummy civilians when a hero was born. He was smart, strong, and loyal, the whole shebang. He practiced with his sword for an hour every morning even if sick or tired. He was loved by the people, and foiled many assassination attempts with ease, but he wasn’t immortal and eventually died in his sleep after eating a poisoned meal along with 30 others. Amaterasu wept for him, believing that with his death the country would fall to ruin, but she stopped crying when a rat tugged on her sleeve.  
The rat begged her to let him try and help. He watched the Hero practice every morning and was confident if he had the strength and a blade he could find the murderers and set things right. Amaterasu asked if he wanted a human form, but the rat denied and said he had watched the Hero as a rat, he would serve the Hero’s memory as a rat. Then Amaterasu asked if he wanted revenge so badly that he would beg, but the rat said he only wanted justice. He would practice mercy yet be harsh when needed. He would stop the evil poisoning the country in the same way it poisoned the Hero.  
Taken with the rat’s determination, Amaterasu agreed to help him. She breathed on the Hero’s blade before handing it to the rat, telling him it was the sharpest sword to exist, it would not wear or break, and if it touched someone with evil in their hearts it would prevent them from healing. The goddess then breathed on the rat and he felt new strength in his limbs. He easily picked up the sword despite his size and wielded it with finesse. The rat told Amaterasu that he would use it only as needed, not because he could.  
The rat used his sense of smell to go to the kitchen and track down those who had poisoned the food. He incapacitated the perpetrators before reporting them to the young and noble prince of the kingdom. With the arrest and execution the public’s trust for the prince grew, and with the rat as his personal knight the country rapidly grew prosperous and noble.  
For a hundred years the rat continued to walk a noble path and contribute to Nippon’s growth, but eventually Amaterasu said his time was up. He begged not to go yet, he felt he needed to train more pupils, make more laws, and help more people. He’d give up anything to continue his work, even his body and soul, only for Amaterasu to show him the night sky where a new constellation shone brightly. Not once in a hundred years had the rat broken his vow to fight for justice, he had made mistakes and had a temper, but he had remained true. For that she would make him a god, to live as long as Nippon survived so that people would be inspired by his teachings. With tears of joy the rat accepted and began his noble work anew as a god.”  
Ruby was very taken with the story having listened in complete silence, determined to find some way to make it into a movie when she got home. “So do you think this constellation holds that rat the same way the last constellation held the dragon?” she asked.  
“I dunno,” Issun said with a dispassionate shrug.  
Ruby sighed. “Alright, can you point out the missing star?” Issun hopped onto her wrist and after a moment of focus she dotted the star into the sky, the constellation blinding them with light. Ruby found herself in the golden realm of the gods once more, where a large rat sat with an even larger sword behind it. She opened her mouth to ask it where she was meant to go, but without warning the blade came within a mere inch from her face. She stood frozen as the sword-wielding rat became a blur, never striking her but coming close. Issun had to hold onto her bow to keep from being blown away.  
It stopped just as abruptly, coming to rest on the handle with the blade embedded in the ground. The rat spoke in a rather high-pitched voice. “Greetings, Young Flower. I am Tachigami, the sword designed to conquer evil. With me by your side your blade shall always reach its target. May the sun’s light shine through you.” Before either Ruby or Issun had recovered from the display, Tachigami disappeared and left a glowing orb in his wake that flew into the girl. The divine realm faded, and they found themselves back within the Cave of Nagi.  
Issun grumbled at her side. “Jeez, you’d think the gods would have better manners.”  
Ruby agreed with a nod before trying to figure out what she had gotten from Tachigami, only to feel something bump her foot. She found a small scroll on the ground. It contained a single column of symbols that she was now sure was this world’s writing system with a line under it. “Issun, can you translate?”  
He hopped onto her arm to study the scroll. “It says ‘Power Slash’ and the line is just a line. I think Power Slash is the name of the Brush Technique you just got, so maybe the line is the way you use it?”  
Ruby figured that made as good sense as any and spied a nearby boulder to practice on. She started to focus power into her hand when a soft woman’s voice seemed to speak from just over her shoulder. “Remember, you can use your weapon as well.” Startled, Ruby spun around while grabbing Divine Retribution only to see nothing.  
Issun yelped in surprised. “What was that for?! You almost threw me off!”  
“You didn’t hear a woman just now?” she asked, her eyes darting about the cave.  
“No? Did you?”  
Ruby nodded slowly, frowning. “It sounded like Amaterasu only really faint.”  
Again the voice came. “You are correct, child. As your power grows I will come closer. I’m sorry I don’t have time now, I just wanted to let you know I’m here.”  
Ruby decided to accept her words at face value. “I guess Amaterasu can talk to me now that I’m getting more Brush Techniques.” Issun simply shrugged at that information. He’d already met two gods and currently stood in a fabled location. He didn’t really have a reason to question this newest revelation.  
Ruby drew her scythe. She remembered basic aura transfer, mostly used to empower bullets and cause an imbalance in Grimm. She tried to focus on every inch of the weapon, closing her eyes as she built power into her palm then evenly distributed power from her palm into Divine Retribution. It eagerly accepted her aura, more so than any other weapon, but she couldn’t control the aura in the weapon so she had to feed it almost three times as much energy before the beak turned a shiny, inky black. Ruby assumed her fighting stance, careful not to lose focus, before swinging the weapon. She pictured a canvas with the boulders she wanted to bisect, color draining away from the world, drawing a line straight through them. At the end of the arc she released the image as well as her newfound power.  
A line appeared on the rock as the boulder jumped apart as if split by a great force and Ruby had to scramble backwards as the top half nearly rolled onto her, the boulder sliced cleanly in two. “Awesome…” Issun uttered, awestruck. Ruby could only nod in agreement; Power Slash was awesome and she hadn’t even used it in battle yet. “Hey, didn’t Sakuya say we needed to use Amaterasu’s power to cut down the fruit on her tree? Think this’ll work?”  
Ruby recalled the sprite’s words before recalling how she’d arrived at the Cave of Nagi. With a defeated groan she held her head in her hands. “You mean we have to go back down all those stairs?! I HATE stairs! Whenever I get home I’m moving to the guest room downstairs. No more stairs for me!” She got so caught up in her hatred for stairs that it took her a moment to notice Issun staring at her intensely. “Something wrong?” she asked.  
The Poncle hesitated to reply. “I know I sometimes get distracted and miss stuff, but you didn’t have a tattoo on your forehead a minute ago, right? I could swear you didn’t.”  
Ruby looked confused. “What are you talking about? I don’t have any tattoos. I kind of want one on my back of a dragon protecting a rose but Yang always tells me I’m not allowed to get a tattoo until I’m nineteen.”  
Issun studied her for another moment. “Maybe I’ve gone crazy thanks to all the craziness of today, but you got a bunch of swirly marks on your head with a circle and a symbol meaning Light in the middle.”  
She frowned at him. “I have what on my head?”  
“I don’t have a mirror so you’ll have to wait until we reach the water below, but yeah, it’s a bright red tattoo with ‘light’ in the middle.”  
Ruby groaned at the notion of hiking all those stairs again, although the descent was much easier than climbing up. When she returned to the grove with birdsong surrounding her, butterflies fluttering prettily, and water trickling by, she felt most of her stress melt away. Before laying down to rest she went to the river’s edge to peer at her reflection. She hadn’t expected anything out of the ordinary, so she was genuinely surprised to see that Issun’s description of her “tattoo” was totally accurate. Red marks emerged from her eyes, her temples, and behind her ears to meet at her forehead, forming a small circle with one of the word-symbols in the center. She could only stare at the markings.  
“I told you it was there,” Issun said smugly. “No idea WHY it’s there, but I told you.” Ruby had an idea as to how she’d acquired it. If she received this tattoo in conjunction with Power Slash, perhaps Rejuvenation had also given her one? But where? She rolled up her sleeves and hiked up her robe slightly, finding nothing. She tried looking down the front of her kimono without Issun also seeing, and spotted something that may have been a red line.  
“I need to check something, Issun,” she said. “Hop onto that tree for a minute.” He grumbled but did as requested. “Thank you.” Ruby eyed him before loosening her obi and parting the kimono. On her stomach was another red tattoo, a series of wavy lines and darker spots that reminded her of the River of the Heavens if it went through an all-red filter.  
Issun waited until he heard the rustling of fabric. “OK Rue, I take it you found something?”  
This time Ruby noted the nickname, deciding she liked it well enough. “I have a tattoo on my stomach, too. I think I get a new tattoo for every Brush God.”  
Issun mulled it over. “Alright. Why don’t you rest while I do some more painting before we move on?” If he wasn’t concerned by the markings then Ruby decided she shouldn’t be either, even though they were magically appearing on her body. She took off her sandals and placed them at her side, then dipped her feet into the river and laid back in the grass. She must have dozed off because Issun’s loud voice jolted her awake. “It’s been hours! Are you getting up or should I bunk down, too?” Ruby jolted upright and shook herself off.  
“I’m fine! Let’s get this whole fruit thing out of the way now.” With that she threw on her sandals, scooped up Issun, and started fast-walking. She pointedly ignored his chuckling at her.  
They both grabbed some fruit as they walked by; Issun was enjoying the beauty of nature while Ruby was just happy to nearly be done with the stairs. However, when they left the grove a Meeting Barrier surrounded them and a trio of Green Imps appeared in plumes of smoke. Ruby drew Divine Retribution in an instant, about to simply slay them all when she remembered the boulder she had cut earlier, and so decided to see what Power Slash would do against demons. She rushed forward and jumped onto the middle Imp before pushing off, driving it into the ground as she leapt into the air. As she fell she imbued the scythe with her aura.  
Upon landing the other imps moved to attack her. They were more aggressive than the first trio but still not much of a threat. Ruby knocked one of the flutes into the crook of the other’s arm, then kicked at it sending them both away. The imp she had jumped on finally got up but it was too late, her power was ready.  
She envisioned the canvas and slashed at it, leaving a thin line before her that bisected all three imps. Power Slash cut them in half at the waist, flowers trailing as they broke apart. The barrier vanished and Ruby approached to see if they dropped anything. Along with a few small Yen coins was something she didn’t recognize. It appeared to be a small, curved tooth with a pretty gradient of blue to pink. Ruby held it up to get a better look when Issun chimed in. “Oh, a Demon Fang! If you beat a Demon with an opposing power the conflict will sometimes leave one of these. They don’t do anything as far as I know but some people collect them, so you may as well grab them when you can.”  
Ruby gathered the three fangs and put them in her Star Room along with the money. Killing done and spoils collected, she moved on to the dreaded stairs. She paused and breathed deeply before resuming the long descent.

* * *

Ruby was certain Issun slept through most of the walk back to Sakuya’s tree. It was boring without music or conversation, but Issun started to hum once again after she jumped down from the cliff, which had presumably woken him. After crossing the first and now last bridge, her eye was drawn to the Origin Mirror they’d discussed earlier. She stood before it, wondering if anything would happen this time. Ruby immediately experienced an odd sensation as if her ears were constantly popping, then the number ‘1’ appeared on the mirror. She touched it and the surface rippled, playing a sped-up version of her activities since her last interaction. Despite the lack of sound and slow visuals, it would easily remind someone of what they’d done in the past.  
She recoiled from the mirror and Issun chuckled. “What are you laughing about?” she grumbled at him.  
“Everyone’s first reaction to the Origin Mirror is hilarious. You walked up, looked into a blank surface, touched it, then stumbled like you just knocked back some strong sake.” Ruby didn’t know what sake was but made a face at her small ally regardless.  
She crossed through the barrier of light, standing before the dying tree. The only thing that stood out against the dark sky was a giant golden peach hanging from a branch. Ruby utilized Power Slash to sever the fruit. It hit the ground and burst into juice. From the landing site, lush green grass and flowers rushed across the landscape like a wave and a storm of petals blinded her. Once it passed, Ruby turned around.  
The wave of color continued down the hill. Trees sprouted new leaves and fruit, water burbled happily, and everything looked so full of life. Issued remained silent and Ruby could only gasp at the transformed beauty of the landscape, stark in contrast to the desolate land beyond the hills protecting Kamiki. She went to the edge of the cliff overlooking the town, the depth of color putting into perspective just how high they were and how pretty the land of Nippon was. All she had left to do was clear the sky, although she had no idea how to accomplish that.  
Issun poked at her side, prompting her to look down where she saw his small sword pointing toward more stairs leading into the village. When Ruby passed around the gate, she turned back to see that the arch no longer glowed with the entrance to the River of the Heavens. They passed an odd statue at the flat spot on the hill where one path led upward and the other led to the village. The statue appeared to be a man wearing a basket helmet. In the village proper, Ruby saw another statue of a child with what looked like a dragonfly on a leash. She approached it with trepidation; something about the accuracy made her wary. The folds in the clothes, the eyelashes, the hair, all slightly off in a way that said human and not art. She touched the cheek of the statue only to back away swiftly.  
“What was that, Rue?!” Issun shouted, nearly falling out of her bow.  
“It’s warm! Not like it was out in the heat but like there’s warm… water inside,” Ruby answered, specifically avoiding using the word ‘blood’. Before Issun could reply a terrifying roar echoed across the land. Ruby drew Divine Retribution and scanned their surroundings for the source of the noise, but everything was still. “Issun?”  
His voice was shaky. “Sorry, I got nothing on the statue or whatever that sound was.”  
“So I should just look around?”  
He tried to sound calm and collected. “I guess, just… keep your scythe out.”  
Ruby wasn’t planning on leaving herself defenseless following that roar. Avoiding the statues for now, she followed the path through the village, moving cautiously as her eyes darted about. But no enemies jumped out at her, the only movement from blades of grass and flowers blowing in the wind. She relaxed somewhat, taking in the cozy-looking dozen or so homes and small quaint fields. But there were also more human-shaped statues dotting the area. “Issun, these statues… Please say it’s just in my head, but doesn’t it look like these people were frozen mid-step?”  
“I hate to tell you this, but when I went up that hill earlier there weren’t any statues. The people in this village were walking around talking about the sky.”  
Ruby withheld a whimper. “That’s what I was afraid of.” She approached a lone statue of an older woman in the middle of a rice field. With a fortifying breath she did her best to methodically examin it. The skin was warm, the clothing cool, and she found a few strands of hair impossible to break off. The woman seemed to be made of solid rock with a source of warmth inside. She had no pulse and didn’t move one bit, yet radiated warmth.  
As Ruby backed away another roar rang out, but she soon dismissed it since it sounded no closer than before. For a few minutes she walked around the village, inspecting other statues, trying to find any information but coming up frustratingly empty-handed. She crossed a bridge over a river that emptied into a bay with a small house to her left, and on the far side nestled between some rocky hills was a massive boulder blocking what Ruby assumed was the path out of Kamiki. There was no way out of the village that didn’t involve a hard, potentially painful climb up sheer rock.  
“Hey Rue, maybe go that other way up? A better view might help, if only to see how to get out of here.”  
Ruby waited a beat before saying sadly, “So back up the stairs.”  
Issun laughed at her. “Yeah, more stairs.”  
The hike was mundane if murder on Ruby’s legs. After following the path up and around the hill, she came upon a small pond. Beyond it was a wooden platform offering a good vantage of Sakuya’s tree, and on the platform itself was a red spiral. “Nice view but I don’t see a way out,” Ruby observed. She could see the whole village, the surrounding mountains, the sea, and a vast open area beyond the giant boulder. She also realized that Kamiki was still dotted with dead trees, though all of them were curiously adorned with paper ribbons. The dark sky still overshadowed everything. “If only it were brighter out, I might be able to see footholds on the mountains,” Ruby mused.  
At the edge of her awareness she heard Amaterasu whisper something unclear. She shook her head to try and clear it but the voice remained indistinct. “You OK, Rue? Some fly around your head?”  
“No, I heard something. Amaterasu spoke but I couldn’t hear her. I think she used up whatever power she had earlier, and I don’t have enough.”  
Issun hummed. “Hold on, Granny only started making noise after you said you wanted it to be brighter, right?” Ruby nodded, curious. “Well, Amaterasu is called the Sun Goddess for a reason. She has a Brush Technique too, Sunrise, and you said you have her power. It makes the sky as bright as midday, but I don’t know how it’s done. There’s a poem about her using it that basically says she would dance and every time she’d spin the light would renew but that’s all I know.”  
Ruby cocked her head. If spinning was actually connected to the Brush Technique itself, then the only things she could think of were a spiral or circle. She tried drawing a spiral in the sky with her finger only for the smoke to fly away. With a shrug she tried again with a circle, only this time the power stuck. A giant painting of a sun appeared in the sky and blazed with light.  
Ruby and Issun both yelped in surprise and ducked their heads. When Ruby could see again she looked up to find the sun sinking in the beautiful blue sky, everything sharper and more colorful beneath evening light. She stood frozen, trying to wrap her head around the fact that making a circle in the sky had somehow turned darkness into day. Then, a voice unexpectedly sounded behind her. “!@#$#@!~@#$%?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this took me far too long, I’m not gonna say I’m guilty about it, a story takes as long as it takes, but this took WAY too long for me. I got the first half of the story done, started work and, not gonna say I forgot to write, but I just never thought about writing while I had the time and energy until like a week back and I did this last half.  
Not sure about the fight scenes, I wanted them to be a bit more in-depth since this is the first fighting Ruby has done. I wanted to emphasize her control, reach, and speed so that when she has actual hard fights later on I can show why they are hard.  
Geography is hard to describe.  
Rue and Iss, I pronounce them like rue the day and hiss without the H but you do whatever. They are both friendly people feeding off each other so I figured this would be a good fit. On the topic of Issun he’s more mature than I typically think of him, but since Ruby is so talkative and so clueless I felt he’d naturally lean to more of a brother/mentor position at least for now, which is why he’s more helpful and respectful then he was at this point in the game. Don’t worry he’s still Issun just more mature with Ruby.  
And last but not least stairs. I don’t know how funny/annoying it was, it wasn’t on purpose, but there are so many stairs at the beginning of the game and since I was expanding sizes to make them more realistic (also why Kamiki has about a dozen houses rather than the 4 in-game) that meant more stairs. And as I was writing all I could think of is how tired just a few flights make me, much less these literal mountains of stairs Ruby is climbing, multiple times. That being said if you did find it annoying don’t worry since this is it for a while, most other stairs will only be after a good rest and in much more reasonable amount until Orochi’s place I think.  
Beta’d by Wild Blue Sonder. Thank you Sonder.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright that’s it for me. I originally wanted to do all the Kamiki stuff at once, then when I realized how much that’d be I thought I’d do all of the Mountain/Cave stuff and end this chapter, but to be frank this chapter is already getting disgustingly long for me. I prefer shorter chapters so people can comment on anything they see without forgetting or being worried about lengthy comments. But I didn’t want to break everything up into too many bits for no reason, so this is the compromise I’ve made.  
And this was very info-dump heavy for me but I don’t see any way around it. This is a whole new world for Ruby, it’d be stupid for her to not have a bunch of questions and for Issun to not explain things. But I think this’ll be one of the heavier info-dump chapters so it’s tolerable to me.  
And I tried to explain how game-things will work in this world, like how you can carry so much stuff at once or how the common people view magic.  
Ruby and even more so Issun are more mature than I was planning but this is all new to Ruby and Issun is trying to guide a girl not deal with a wolf/god so I didn’t want them to be to flippant either. They’ll get more comfortable as the story goes on.  
But finally please review, I much prefer comments, even just an “I liked this” over kudos or follows or favorites, they are more tangible to me then just raw numbers, I’d rather a dozen reviews then a hundred kudos/follows.  
Beta’d by Wild Blue Sonder. Thank you Sonder.


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